My Burger Lab – 14, Road 21/22, Seapark, Petaling Jaya

Now Poh Leng has been telling me about this place over the last two or three weeks, and not being a burger fan I kind of brushed it off and thinking it was the same old same old. And the fact that it was in Seapark, in an area which was never known to have any restaurants over many years I thought a burger place in that part of the area would be catastrophic and a Gourmet Burger Joint for the matter, it would not last, because at nights nothing happens in that part of Seapark.

The only place for food on that row would be Kedai Kuih Ah Han, the lady who makes wonderful nonya kuih and charges you quite a bit, still good things are not cheap and cheap things are not good. And she closes at 4 pm or so.

So today, without warning Poh Leng called for dinner and asked me to invite Hafiq. Today being a rainy and rather cool day, appetites tend to be bigger I feel, either that or it’s just an excuse to eat more. So I was the first to reach The Burger Lab and it was already half full, so I stood outside waiting for them and I made my judgement of the place.

No frills, modern, simplicity with a lot of life, both from the vibrant staff and the people who were waiting around. Now this is just the restaurant ambiance from outside. They even have an African waiter who actually added something extra to the place, perhaps as racist as it sounds, some color. Everyone had a nice spunky cheery My Burger Lab Polo.

One thing to note, everyone spoke very good English, which is a change in places like this who usually hire foreign staff who sell things they don’t have a clue off. These staff were on the ball. This is a big plus point to me because they mingled, they explained they had good product knowledge.

I waited a while and noticed the place fill up so I marched in and quickly found a table at an angle that I could view the whole restaurant and the people who came in. I could not order anything because Poh Leng and Hafiq were stuck in traffic, so the evil stares I got from those who had ordered and waiting for a table while I sat there with three empty seats was not very comfortable. Soon they arrived.

No menus, you order a ala Mc Donalds or any fast food style, menus are on a

The Menu – My Burger Lab’s List of Goodies

black board written with chalk, very clearly written, the food will be served of course by the rather vibrant and mobile staff. Hafiq lined up and placed out orders, I just told him what I wanted and sat at my place chatting to Poh Leng.

By this time it was just about 7.20 and the place was FULL. Waiters were all over the place calling out names of customers to serve them their burgers. I had half the mind to pretend to be those people so I could have my burger earlier. We waited for a good 15 to 20 minutes for our burgers to arrive. And truly, watching the burgers go past you in those little baskets as the waiters walked around shouting out names was really amazing. By then end you probably knew who was who in the restaurant. Still people were all over the place and more were coming in.

While Hafiq was getting the food, the chicken burgers were already out of stock!

So finally Hafiqs name was called out and of course being the only 1 Malaysia table they had no problems finding us.

So Poh Leng had Shroom Shroom Shroom Burger because she was vegetarian

An Ugly Photo taken by yours truly, makes the burger look like a grey rock with filling

today. Please don’t be alarmed if you see your bread black in color. It’s the a charcoal burger bun which I thought was a rather novel idea to differentiate yourself from others. Very nouveau I should say. So Poh Leng’s burger was a Portobello mushroom sizzled on the griddle and encased in mozzarella cheese and iceberg lettuce. I did think it could have had a trifle bit more veggies since it was a Vegetarian burger. But still it was nice. We paid extra for chips and bottomless drinks.

The Carb Free Diet flew right out of the door, the minute these were placed in front of us.

The chips were really nice. Not shoe string but slightly thicker cut, and it had a distinct taste which I could not put my finger on, although it was a sprinkling of thyme and it came with a chilly mayo which was just what the doctor ordered.

Now my burger, I was worried because I really hate any sauce in my foods especially burgers. And I had forgotten to tell Hafiq to tell them no sauce. I was really dreading this. I hate tomato sauce, I hate chilly sauce and worst still I hate Mayo and thousand island. My burger was called A Beautiful Mess, now, It was a Beef Burger, with Mushrooms, and a fried egg, and there was cheese. Now I really could not fathom how they were going to put together my burger because in my mind I had this vision of them encasing my burger with eggs and slices of mushrooms, I really had that in mind. And worst dollops of sauce!

Carefully arranged, and a beautiful mess indeed

Lusciousness!

Low and behold, the burger came and it was arranged beautifully like a gourmet Big Mac, burger and three breaded and fried pieces of mushrooms and the egg was cleverly fried in a capsicum ring. Ohh I was so proud of my selection. This coming from a person who only has a so so relationship with burgers. And the wonderful part of it was, the yolk was slightly cooked enough that it did not ooze all over the place but the yolk was wet enough that when the burger was bitten, the yolk burst and oozed out goodness that went all over the burger which I might add was perfectly cooked. Not dried but moist, and wet and ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh an Orgasm was about to happen!

It was that good. Of course I do have a small mouth so I had to take it apart and eat it so I really appreciated each layer with much ecstacy. It was worth it! And the chips just made my day.

Hafiq’s Burger was called Beef A+ Burger and it was an A + as well . I cannot really say much because I only had a bite of it but it was filled to the brim with caramelized onions, cheese, and fresh shitake mushrooms. And the pinkness of the meat made it even more appetizing.

I would go there again for sure, , My Burger Lab is opened at 5 pm daily and it is not a place one can linger and have a chat and do lovey dovey stuff, you eat you leave, or you get the evil eye from customers waiting for a seat. And one more thing, don’t dress up, because you will smell like a burger when you come out.

The Burger Lab will go far if they keep dishing out burgers like this, but thing is they can easily be victims to copycats, this is Malaysia after all.

Part Two – This has never happened before…

Today Shakira and I decided to go to My Burger Lab, my second time and her first. So she hung out with me at home after work and then we drove there, expecting shocking traffic but it was fairly good, so we reached there with heaps of time before breaking fast.

We found a seat and Shakira saw two sets of colleagues already there and so we ordered, and we told them food at 730pm, in time for breaking fast. First shocker! No Chips! WHAT!! I went. So I was promised that if the chips came in time, we’d get it free. I told them there was no need to. Being in the food business, it is not necessary. But still they insisted, so I just kept quiet.

So in 10 minutes someone shouted out my name, and off I went to pick my burger which was 20 minutes too early. I sort of told them it was early and they apologized. Ok no biggie. Still no chips!

Today was a bit different because they called out your name and you had to pick your burger up unlike last week when they called out your name you stood up and the burger was placed on your table. Well maybe work flow would be better this way.

So we took photos, and talked and the burgers were getting colder and colder

Not our Chicken Hangover

because Shakira and I sat right underneath the airconditioner. Now Shakira’s burger looked like chicken, but then I didn’t want to touch it and since we were waiting so I thought let’s wait. Last week I thought mine was the wrong burger and in the end it turned out to be gorgeously breaded and fried mushrooms. So we’ll wait.

Then we spotted the delivery man bringing in four cartons of chips! I went up to pay for my chips but was told it was not necessary. Just out of politeness of course one must not expect freebies.

The other Nicholas’ Burger – looks like what Hafiq had last week

Now cold burgers, and hot chips well it’s ok. Then they called out my name, and I must note by this time the restaurant was getting crowded and noisy and it was time for my chips, because the next table was all happy with theirs. Before I could get up I saw this guy going up to get the baskets of burgers and chips, then there was a bit of a discussion, I heard my name being called out and since no one made eye contact I left it. Then suddenly a waiter comes up and apologizes and takes our cold burgers away and brings us piping hot burgers. Seems that there was two people with the same name in the restaurant at the same time. Now imagine if it was not the fasting month and we gobbled down the burger??

So we had piping hot burgers and piping hot chips right on time! Ahhhh!!!! Shakira and I got goosies eating thosed lightly herbed chips dipped in that lightly chillied mayo. Goosies Galore!

My Beef Swisstake

No one said anything, we just ate and ate. I had a Swisstake Burger, now I have to say the meat today was for some reason a lot better then the other day. Grass fed Aussie cows! It didn’t need any sauce once again and the thinly sliced sautéed mushrooms just burst with taste, and while one look at the burger you would thing it would be overwhelming, it was not, it thoroughly complemented the juicy beefiness of the meat. And I was wondering what that crispy cracker like tortilla chip thing was?

One bite and it was cheese…. Oh my god…. It was wonderful. I should have ordered one more slice to be done exactly like that. Maybe even two.

Shakira’s Beef Hangover

Shakira had a Beef Hangover and it had a nice albeit a little too fried Hashbrown. Frankly I have never seen Shakira eat like that before. Shakira likes to see a lot of food and then she will have a teaspoon of everything. She just ate almost everything without much verbal communication. I must say she was a bit apprehensive about the Charcoal Burger. But it all disappeared once she took a bite. A small bite at first I might add.

I must add, I wish My Burger Lab would put more Salad or lettuce leaves in their burger or even offer it as an added option. I would have felt my meal more complete it I had a few more leaves in my burger. I hope they read this.

We had a good time till this Chick started hovering over us giving that, “can you please hurry up because I want your seat” look. She just stood there with a Mother Superior face! Anyhow Shakira was still eating away so I pretended not to notice. Then she took out a magazine to read over us, then she took out her earphones and put it on!

And it was not like she had her burger or anything like that!

Silly Cow! We ended our meal experience right then.

Shakira decided that we would be back next week. Maybe next week I will try the Elvis Burger, heard from the other table, that it was different.

Good night, and highly recommended for those who like to eat and run….or you’ll have Silly Cow hovering over you.

Hi! You are Lilian I presume? (my mistake if you are not)
I’m Renyi co-founder of myBurgerLab and also they guy who served you the basket of chips.
=)
Thank you for your very well written review of myBurgerLab and we are very pleased and flattered to have satisfied your burger cravings.
Anyway, I thought I’d drop you a note to tell you that at myBurgerLab, if you ask for it, we will do it as long as we have the means to. So, if you want more lettuces, or even oven roasted cherry tomatoes, just tell us (at the cashier) and it’d be on your burger! NO extra charges for those 2 items too.

p.s If you want a your burger sans bun, we can do that too and give you a lettuce wrap instead.
Hope to see you again soon!

My mistake. Just realized it’s the table next to you I served. Haha.
I remember you now Mr Nicholas. I gave you the thumbs up when the fries came in.
Once again, thank you for your compliments and we hope to see you again soon!

Hello Ren Yi,
Yes that was me. You have done an excellent job with your place, you have set the standard that people who want to copy you MUST follow. When I am in your restaurant, the style, the food, the people transport me back to Australia. Albeit everyone being asian here, but still your staff stand out. Just the way they handle themselves sets them apart. Carry on with the good work, and thanks for the veggie increase, makes it less guilty then.
Thanks
Nicholas
PS be back next week

Am the african waiter and am pleased to know that my presence made your experience worthwhile. Be rest assured that there’s nothing racist about your comment. Am over the roof to know that you even noticed me and I’ll be more than pleased to make your future adventures in our Lab an escapade you will never forget!!. Thanks for coming and hope you will allow me the pleasure of meeting you in person next time. Hope to see you soonest

Hello,
I was quite shocked that I didn’t notice you on last Thursday, but it is good to know you are still there. You got my attention because you carried out your job well, head up with shoulders held high and with full of life. Keep up to the good work.

You sure will Emmanuel.. lots of my friends have gone to the Lab since my blog went on air. I can’t believe how viral its becomes nearly 2000 hits since Friday.
You guys do a good job as a team, and trust me you do not stand out because of your origins,(well a bit) more so you stand out because you fit into the team and you carry out your duties like you belong.

Hi Nicholas. It’s been almost a year and I was just going thru some of our old reviews and I just want to show my gratitude again for this nice review about our humble little store.
A lot has changed since then (we hope it was for the better!), but we are still staying true to our cause.
Anyway, just to keep it short, Thank You for your initial support and this wonderful writeup.

You’re place still has a good following, from my blog alone at least more then 1000 a week hits just on Burger Lab. And that also makes it most difficult to get a bite at your place. I have come by 6 times with friends both local and foreigners and the place was chockers and no one wanted to wait. Please Please do something soon, I miss the place. I am a non meat eater as off this year so I hope there will be something for me when I come next. Thank you for making an impact on the malaysian food scene. It really makes me proud to see this happening.
Nicholas